


Clarity

by Morgyn Leri (morgynleri)



Series: Night Mirror: The Triad and Baal [2]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Alternate Universe, GFY, Mirror Universe, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-14
Updated: 2011-07-14
Packaged: 2017-10-21 09:42:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/223788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morgynleri/pseuds/Morgyn%20Leri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She knew with terrifying clarity that this was real.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Clarity

_She knew with terrifying clarity that this was real. The rich tapestries over concrete walls, the deferential nods of men and women in drab uniforms that were somewhere between Tok'ra and US military. Martouf - she knew he was called Lantash here, more often - and Paul Davis walking on either side of her and the whisper of Jolinar in the back of her mind, all subtly wrong in more than simply those who were dead were not._

_The knowledge came unbidden that she was the leader of more than the SGC, and these two the most important men in the new regime that had carefully suborned world governments and militaries until she had enough of a power base to bring the rest of the world under her thumb. Made the Earth into a power that had brought the goa'uld to their knees with careful alliances and ruthless efficiency that had no regard for collateral damage._

_It was the sort of victory that made her ill to think of supporting, much less organizing, and yet there was the sense that her doppelganger was satisfied with it - even proud of it - curling at the back of her mind. Even Jack and Daniel had supported her in it, in this twisted reality, so unlike the one she called her own. A cold knowledge that made her shiver in the corner of her mind that was her own for a moment._

_When they stepped into what should have been the briefing room, she would have blinked if she could. It wasn't the lack of familiar furnishings - only a broad desk with a comfortable chair that her doppelganger called her own - or even the guards that stood at the top of the staircase leading into the control room. Not that, but the man standing at the observation window overlooking the embarkation room, his hands clasped behind his back, without even the j'affa guards she'd expect him to have._

_"Baal." The voice that came from her mouth didn't have the distortion of the symbiote, nor did she hear Jolinar whispering the words in tandem, which made her all the more disturbed by the familiarity in the single word. "Trouble keeping your end of things up?"_

_There was silence for a long moment, Baal continuing to watch the gate without moving. "Nothing in our agreement denies me the privilege of visiting Earth, Colonel Carter." His voice, at least, had the reverberation of the symbiote overlying the host's rich natural cadence. "I took the opportunity to do so."_

_"Nothing in it allows your visit, either."_

_Baal tilted his head in acknowledgment of that before turning from the window to face her. "Indeed."_

_"Why are you here, Baal?" Arms crossed, her doppelganger gave Baal a brief smile that felt foreign to this face. "You didn't come just to prove you could, I'm sure."_

_"No." Baal paused, a small, smug smile on his face as he watched her - studying her, she thought. "I would like the opportunity to renegotiate our temporary alliance, Colonel Carter. Informally," he added, his gaze flicking to the men flanking her. "Over dinner, perhaps?"_

~ ~~ ~

Sam woke with a start, pushing herself halfway to sitting as she stared blindly at the bare concrete walls of the small room in the SGC she was sleeping in, the after-images of her dream fading slowly. They were still burned into her mind's eye, vivid memories of the nightmarish mockery of her own life.

"It's just a dream," she muttered to herself, pushing aside the blankets as she sat on the edge of the bed. Probing at the empty space at the back of her mind that had once been Jolinar, dredging up the memories of holding Martouf in her arms as he died, she used the dull ache to reinforce her words. Warding herself against that nagging sense that it had been more than a dream.

Taking a deep breath, Sam pushed off the bed, padding toward the bathroom. She wouldn't be able to sleep more tonight, and she did have that project waiting in her lab, the reason she hadn't actually gone home that night. The work, she hoped, would let her shove the dregs of the nightmare out of her mind.

**Author's Note:**

>  **Prompt:** Nightmare (#582/1000)


End file.
